This is a record of my journey as a Muslim. I used to be Catholic and belonged to a missionary organisation. After my conversion, I sat on the board of a Muslim converts' organisation and specialised in da'wah programmes, convert management, interfaith issues and apostasy cases. I am an initiate of a Sufi order. As such, the articles and writings tend to cover these areas.
All the Arabic and graphics could not have been done without the help of my wife, Zafirah.

Saturday, 5 May 2012

Shaykh Bayazid al-Bistami's (q.s.) Annihilation

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ
ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

“One night from out the swarming city gate,

Stept holy Bayazid, to meditate.

Alone amid the breathing fields that lay,

In solitary silence leagues away;

Beneath a moon and stars as bright as day.

And the saint wondering such a temple were,

And so lit up, and scarce one worshipper,

A voice from Heaven, amid the stillness said,

‘The Royal Road is not for all to tread,

Nor is the Royal Palace for the rout,

Who, even if they reach it, are shut out.

The Blaze that from my Harim window breaks

With fright the rabble of the Roadside takes;

And even of those that at my Portal din,

Thousands may knock for one that enters in.’”

Shaykh Farid
ad-Din ‘Aththar (q.s.), “Conference
of the Birds”

A similar
narration in Shaykh Farid ad-Din ‘Aththar’s (q.s.) Tadzkirat al-Awliya’
quotes, from Sulthan al-’Ariffin
himself, Shaykh Bayazid al-Bistami (q.s.). He said, “One night, when I was a child, I
left the city to go to the desert. The
moon was shining and the world was at peace. Suddenly, I had a vision; I saw an illuminated
silhouette. The image was so bright that
the light of the sun looked pale compared to this apparition. I fell into a state of rapture and a deep
feeling of joy came over me. I whispered
to myself, ‘O Allah, such a beautiful gate, yet empty, such an almighty realm,
yet lonesome!’

I heard a voice
say, ‘The doorstep is empty, not because no one comes, but no one is admitted
to come. This is not the realm of the
impure; not many have the honour of admittance.’ I thought, from whom in Creation could I call
upon to intercede for my admittance? And
I remembered that the only one to intercede was the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.). I could not call upon anyone but wait for him
to give me permission to enter. It was
then that I received a Message saying, ‘Because of such politeness. I will Raise
your name so you will be remembered as the Sulthan
al-’Arifin, Bayazid.” It is not that
the Realm of the Divine Prence, the ‘Alam
Lahut is empty. No one is Granted Permission
because only Allah (s.w.t.) Exists
and in the Divine Presence, the self is absent.